inspired to make every day, life + work stellar

It’s been awhile since I last updated this blog. Wow, how time flies! Since I’ve last blogged, I moved back to California and got married {I hope to share highlights from the best day ever on this blog}! It’s been quite some time since I last blogged {three years to be exact!}. It’s time to remove the cobwebs to make way for a new post on a city that is very dear to my heart. Let’s dive in!

The hubby {will call him “T”} and I embarked on a 10-day trip to Paris, France with no set itinerary other than to relax, eat and drink all day, every day. We recently were in Paris for our honeymoon back in September but loved our time there so much, we decided to go back. At first, we thought a 10 day trip to only Paris would be too long and too much considering that we typically only spend 3-4 days max in any city we’ve traveled to. But in hindsight, 10 days flew by and it left us wanting to visit this city even more frequently.

I hope this comprehensive Paris travel guide will help make planning for Paris easier for you!

BEST AREA TO STAY IN PARIS

Le Marais, hands down.

There are lots of cute boutiques, restaurants, cafes and bars in the 3rd/4th district. We used Airbnb for the first time in September to book a last minute trip to Paris during our honeymoon in Europe and loved the experience. For extended stays, I highly recommend staying at an apartment so you can do laundry {be sure to include washer + dryer in your search filter}, get a great sense of the Parisian life {bring back goods from the market} and enjoy having it the comfort of a home.

BEST RESTAURANTS / EATS IN PARIS

We had so many delicious meals in Paris. Here are some of our favorites!

Keep in mind:

Make reservations, especially for dinner {call or make reservations in person}. A lot of the restaurants are small and book up really fast!

There are no reservations at Holybelly or Kunitoraya. Get in line early at Holybelly or you’ll miss out on breakfast and will be waiting in a long line!

L’avant Comptoir is a standing bar. If you prefer to dine at a seated table instead, dine next door at their cafe, Le Comptoir du Relais.

BEST SNACKS / FOOD IN PARIS

Some notes about French wines, baguettes, cheese and foie gras …

French wines – I have to admit when it comes to European wines, I am clueless. Most wines I love come from Napa Valley. But on this trip, I discovered wines from Bordeaux and ordered it at every restaurant that carried wine from this region. It’s similar to a Merlot/Cabernet and it can be bold and dry… just how I like my wine!

Get baguettes at a Boulangerie – The French take their baguettes seriously. There are laws in place for how and where baguettes can be made. If you see Boulangerie or Boulanger in the name or on the store signage, they bake and sell their breads on premise. Shops that bake them from frozen dough or from dough brought in from a factory or have the breads brought to the shop are Depot de Pain. For the freshest and tastiest baguettes, look for “Boulangerie/Boulanger”.

French cheese – there is so many, especially brie! Some personal favorites include any camembert {similar to brie, made from cow’s milk}, comte {a hard cheese from unpasteurized cow’s milk}, and brie in the smaller disc size, so gooey and delicious!

Foie gras – visit Pierre Champion for the foie gras in the refrigerated area. Go to Contesse du Barry to get terreine in various flavors {packaging is cute + colorful}, goose and duck foie gras as gifts.

BEST EXPERIENCES IN PARIS

During this trip, we did very few touristy things. We love French food so many of our experiences involved food. Here are some fun things we did.

The French cooking class is typically 5-6 hours long and worth every penny. You get to learn how to shop for the freshest ingredients, how to be efficient in the kitchen and much more. Don’t forget to book in advance! Oh a visit to Versailles is a must as well!

BEST PLACES TO SHOP

Le Marias area for cute, local boutiques with amazing leather goods, etc.

Printemps de L’Homme {64 Boulevard Haussmann} for a one-stop shop for all the name brand, luxury items which I highly recommend purchasing in Paris. It’s slightly cheaper than the US due to the tax refund for items purchased over $170 euro.

Chanel {31 Rue de Chambon} – the flagship, oldest Chanel store. This location carries more inventory than the other stores and the shopping bag is a souvenir in itself as it has the “31 Rue de Chambon” imprint. Ask the sales associate if you can take a photo on the famous mirrored staircase where Coco sat to get a view of the entire boutique.

Happy Friday! Today, I’m sharing a quick DIY project if you’re looking for something to do this weekend!

The other day, as I was organizing my jewelry, I realized I didn’t have proper storage for my necklaces. I made these bulletin boards for my office and thought it would also be a great way to also hang my necklaces.

Materials needed:

(1) 2 feet by 1 feet light wood panels {I bought mine from Lowe’s and had them saw the 2′ x 2′ board in half + make sure the wood is hollow or light enough to pin a thumbnail}

1 yard linen fabric

11 inch by 23 inch felt fabric

stapler gun

glue gun

scissors

sawtooth picture hanger

nails

1// This board was 2 feet by 2 feet and I had the nice people at Lowe’s cut the board in half.

2// Fold the linen in half and center the board on top of the linen.

3// Fold one side of the linen on top of the wood panel.

4// Then staple both ends of the folded linen.

5// Repeat on the other side and make sure you tug the linen tightly so the front panel is smooth and not loose.

6// From the top of wood panel, tuck each edge of the linen over like you’re wrapping a present. Then take the top of the tucked edge and staple the end of the fabric piece.

7// Staple the folded edges to secure the fabric tightly on the board.

8// Repeat on the other corner and staple all sides to secure the linen on the board.

9// Take the felt fabric to cover the backside of the board. Use hot glue to glue down the felt.

9// Centering the saw tooth, about 1/2 inch from the top, hammer down the saw tooth.

Here’s the finished DIY necklace board! I used fun thumbnails to hold the necklaces! You can either hang it on your wall or on top of your dresser.

We headed to Venice {Venezia} after Prague. Our plan in Venice was just to relax – we had no itinerary, planned activities or a list of must sees and eats {shocker!}. Venice is a town literally on water. Locals don’t live in Venice because it’s so expensive; everything has to be transported in by boat. It’s the only mean of transportation – there are no bikes or cars in Venice! Venice is about being outside. It’s like an expanded open outdoor mall with tons of small boutique and cafes/bars. The alleys are so narrow and fortunately, the canals did not leave any trails of smelly air during our time there {but I heard during the summer months, the smell is very strong}. The thing to do in Venice {or anywhere in Italy, really} is to sit outside in the patio at the cafes to sip on espresso, smoke cigarettes after cigarettes {this we did not do}, while people watching.

+ about Venice – best part of our stay was the location of our hotel which made our short trip manageable {we didn’t have to roll our bags up and down stairs, canal bridges, etc}. One of the taxi stops was literally right across from the hotel we were staying at. We stayed very close to St. Mark’s Basilica and Square. I loved the laid-back feeling of Venice. The only sit-down meal we had was for lunch when we first got into Venice. The rest of our meals consisted of hopping from bar to cafes to get bites of bruschetta, sandwiches and pizza while sipping on wine, spritz, and espresso {yes, in that order lol}. I become obsessed with spritz! We had the best tuna sandwiches! Italians drink their espresso like water which I absolutely love because it doesn’t make me feel guilty for consuming so much caffeine! The boat ride to Venice was quite interesting and the experience to get around by boat was different.

- about Venice – way too touristy. Wasn’t too impressed with their seafood selection but Venice is known for its fresh seafood. There were too many birds at St. Mark’s square, actually everywhere! The pigeons are overweight because people keep feeding them, no wonder they are everywhere! Because the only means of transportation is by water taxi, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get to the train station. We missed our train but thankfully they had trains going to Florence every hour! Don’t expect great service. Also, on a side note, we did a gondola tour at night thinking it’ll be “romantic”. But quite honestly, it was so dark, you could barely see half of the sights! I recommend doing this early in the day. But beware, it’s going to be a traffic jam mayhem!

How we got to the hotel from the airport: We took a public boat service {the dock is a long walk from the airport exit + you can buy your tickets right at the dock}

Where we stayed in Venice:Savoia & Jolanda Hotel {best part of this hotel is the location + loved the decor {beautiful luxe fabrics, made me feel like I was really in Italy!}

Location is everything: Stay near St. Mark’s Square and the waterfront by the taxi/boat ports

Number of days we stayed in Venice: 2 days, 1 night {recommend: 2-3 full days}

What to consider: Tour neighboring islands, ride the gondola during the day {book the tour through your hotel concierge}, carry cash to pay for souvenirs and snacks {if you plan on pub/cafe crawling}

VENICE // MUST SEES {Places to Visit}

1, 3// Walk around the town, stop at various bars to get a drink + snacks, soak in the culture and the relaxed atmosphere 2// St. Marks Square {visit the basilica, sit in the patio of one of the cafes and people watch, admire the overweight pigeons}4// Souvenir shopping {I don’t really buy souvenirs/trinkets other than artwork, postcards, and food but I had to get the amazing masks!}

VENICE // MUST EATS {Good Eateries!}

1// Gelato {hello, you’re in Italy!}2// Seafood3// Spritz {and then get an espresso on your way out!}4// Best tuna sandwiches at this bar

Overall, we enjoyed our short trip to Venice. It was certainly care-free traveling {sometimes not having a plan is the best thing}. We loved hanging out at the cafes/bars, standing around munching on antipastas and sipping on spritz.

If you want a short getaway, Venice would be a great place to visit. We stayed here for only 1.5 days {one night} and it was plenty. The town is very small. Stay longer if you want to visit the nearby islands.

Happy Monday ya’ll! So far, it’s been a good start {I know it’s just a few hours into Monday!}. I started this morning with spin class + now feeling the burn! Before I went to spin, I made this carrot grapefruit juice. It’s a good one!

I recently discovered this journal app, Day One, and was really hoping it wasn’t another app I get excited about in the beginning but get bored after a few uses. Thankfully, this app made me want to use it on a daily basis. The interface is simple yet so beautifully designed.

I like the idea of typing out my thoughts + memories rather than writing in a journal {my hands starts aching after a writing a few sentences!}. So this app was right up my alley.

The Day One journal app allows you to upload an image for each journal entry – visuals make it more interesting to read + document.

The Day One journal app is available on the iPhone, iPad and there is a desktop version for the Mac. You can sync the journal entries between all devices and via Dropbox or iCloud.

You can even convert the journal entries into a PDF document which can be emailed.

About Tiffany

Hello, welcome to my weblog! My name is Tiffany and I'm a fanatic when it comes to all things weddings, entertaining, paper, design, food, + travel. I hope the features on this weblog will inspire you to make your life, even little moments, stellar. Because you know what, everyone deserves it. You only have one life, so make it stellar!